1918 Norman Granz USA

Los Angeles.
Today would have been the 95th birthday of Norman Granz. For me as a jazz lover he captured a special place. He was a talented and visionary producer who demanded respect for his artists in a time America was openly practicing racism. Jim Crow laws directed black musicians to a rear entrances, but Granz would require for his artists the same access as any of the white patrons - occasionally pulling his performers when they were still denied that access by club owners. In my jazz expedition, Norman Granz has stood out - richly deserving the many accolades as a producer and social activist during a very fertile time in jazz, about 1949-1960. He died on November 22, 2001 in Geneva, Switzerland. He was the founder of record labels - Clef, Norgran, Down Home, Verve and Pablo.

Norman Granz and Louis Armstrong

“Any book on my life would start with my basic philosophy of fighting racial prejudice. I loved jazz, and jazz was my way of doing that,” Norman Granz told Tad Hershorn during the final interviews given for this book. Granz, who died in 2001, was iconoclastic, independent, immensely influential, often thoroughly unpleasant— and one of jazz’s true giants. Granz played an essential part in bringing jazz to audiences around the world, defying racial and social prejudice as he did so, and demanding that African-American performers be treated equally everywhere they toured. In this definitive biography, Hershorn recounts Granz’s story: creator of the legendary jam session concerts known as Jazz at the Philharmonic; founder of the Verve record label; pioneer of live recordings and worldwide jazz concert tours; manager and recording producer for numerous stars, including Ella Fitzgerald and Oscar Peterson.  The book is called, "Norman Granz: The Man Who Used Jazz for Justice" by Tad Hershorn -- Amazon

The Genius Behind the Scenes. NPR (link)

Ella Fitzgerald

Granz had special relationships with a select few, including Ella Fitzgerald. Granz produced her "Songbook" series for the Verve label; for The Cole Porter Songbook, Granz and Fitzgerald carefully chose songs that would highlight both Fitzgerald's talents as a singer and Porter's range as a composer. By pairing Fitzgerald with top-tier artists such as Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington, Granz helped create some of the greatest recordings in the annals of 20th-century popular music.

Oscar Peterson

In 1949, he was instrumental in bringing a young Canadian player named Oscar Peterson to the U.S. to record and perform. The two enjoyed a long working relationship. Peterson has said that Granz's vision for the music helped him secure a Grammy; when the pianist won the award for his 1978 live recording in Montreux, Switzerland, Peterson gave the trophy to Granz as a thank-you gift. -- NPR's Jazz Profiles

Pablo Records, with its distinctive black and white layout was Granz last label. Granz intended it to be an environment to let musicians "stretch out" - to be free of constraints - encouraging variation and improvisation. It was all about the music. Color to the artwork did appear later, but in 1973, Granz tribute to Pablo Picasso, began color free. Pablo was sold to Fantasy Records in 1987. I was in Rome Italy in 1993 staying in a room with my soon to be wife above a record store. I looked over the balcony one evening a saw a little car. Through the windshield I could see a young woman twisting to her left in an embrace with a young man. In her lap was a Pablo Record with this black and white design, clearly recognizable - and a vivid memory. 

Nat King Cole presenting Norman Granz in his first TV appearance on JATP (Jazz At The Philharmonic). Philly Jo Jones on drums, Oscar Peterson on piano, Flip Philips and Illinois Jacquet on tenor sax, Stan Getz, and Coleman Hawkins on sax, Ray Brown on bass, Roy Eldridge on Trumpet Herb Ellis on Guitar. (link)